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Reot
Since their foray into Ealdremen's galactic, interconnected political field, the reot race has been at the forefront of nearly every major technological advancement. Even in less prestigious fields such as repairs of mundane household objects, reots are a common sight. Within their desert homeland, resources were scarce and had to be used in the most creative of ways, and desert mirages could trick even the most intelligent of their kind if they were desperate enough to believe what they saw. These deep-rooted elements of the reot subconscious likely developed into a staunch distaste for all forms of magic and broad affinity for turning the mundane into something marvelous. Etymology and Other Names Reot is most likely derived from the Zorredrian term reos, which means "close to gods". Before the limitations of space travel and the laws of the universe were well-understood, many zorredo cultures believed that the gods existed at the fringes of the universe. The reots' home planet of Beyne is farthest from Ealdremen's sun, and so they would be considered closest of all to the gods. Another possible etymological root is the Nicta-slio word for inventor, riotti, though some conflicting linguistic evidence may suggest that riotti is more recent and may have stemmed from the reot race's name rather than the other way around. Biology The head of a reot is round with a pronounced but short muzzle set upon a thin, flexible neck. Reots with especially thin fur have more pronounced cheekbones, and those with longer fur may appear to have very thick necks. A trait linked to long fur is the presence of hair on top of their heads. If present, hair tends to mirror a reot's markings and general coloration in some way, such as displaying mottled patterns or being of the same color as their fur in some way. They have long whiskers on their face, particularly around their triangular noses, though there are shorter whiskers around their eyes as well. A reot's eyes are almost perfectly round; because reots have small, slit-shaped pupils and their irises occupy most of their visible eye space, their eyes may seem to be bigger than they truly are. This is further compounded by how reots tend to have very brightly colored eyes -- green, orange, light blue, and yellow are common among their kind. A reot's long tail and flexible spine give them an innate sense of balance even when falling, and their upright, flared ears assist them in hearing even the smallest of sounds. They also have highly dextrous fingers that end in sheathable claws, which can make the somatic components of some magic difficult for them unless it is adapted for their hands' unique physiology. Though a reot's nails will always be visible in some way, they can sheathe their claws for the purposes of more delicate work; very few of them will keep their claws always "out". The more self-reliant among them may even use this durable nail for turning tiny bolts in machines in the absence of a proper tool. Many of them lack fur on their palms and the underside of their fingers. Reots have a particular gait where they place one foot roughly ahead of the other as they walk, rather than keeping their feet separated. Combined with a reot's foot anatomy resulting in them naturally walking on their toes, this leads to the impression that a reot is always tiptoeing. A reot's running gait is more similar to other bipedal mammals, though their tails tend to be rigid while running except when changing direction. Sociology The general conceit of most reot societies is that something must be seen and understood to be reliable. Simply seeing the results of something is not enough for the majority of reots. Verbal contracts are fallible, as is magic; while reots do not generally shun magic or outright refuse to work with it, they will generally not specialize in it themselves and tend to regard it as an unpredictable variable. A typical reot will be most suspicious of magic if it is too easy and does not have a clear cost. Machines and engineering have costs in creation and maintenance, yet magic does not have those same costs. For the rare reot that does dabble in magic, alchemy is typically favored, as it "distills" magic into something more observable and with more strictly defined rules that mirror conventional physics and engineering. Religion is infrequent even among reots that live beyond the fervent atheist communities throughout Beyne. Reots that do believe in a god will mostly focus on gods with empirical proof of their existence. As a result, religious reots predominately worship dead gods that have historical accounts of their dealings and other pieces of evidence supporting their creed and influence on Ealdremen. , which they use in their everyday lives even in formal settings.]]Because something being seen ties into understanding it, reots tend to adopt nicknames and may be socially withdrawn among strangers; being too upfront about their inner thoughts could result in someone untrustworthy "understanding" them too well and taking advantage of it. Reot nicknames are most often based on their personality, appearance, or something specific that happened in their youth, as nicknames are virtually always given by the people around a reot when they are a child. Eventually, the reot settles into their identity from how people perceive them, and the nickname becomes a central part of their identity. Reots tend to place a great emphasis on their appearance -- not only physical, but simply how others perceive them. A reot whose public perception becomes unsalvagable may abandon their old identity and begin anew somewhere remote where they will not be recognized. Reots generally push their children to be independent, and they tend to seek after whatever is most interesting to them personally. It is socially rare for reots to pressure one another to go into certain fields, as there is a cultural idea that a properly independent reot will only bring themselves down if they make poor decisions. A reot's youth is a time of wild curiosity and exploration, but then they are expected to narrow their focus on what truly matters to them and seek to better themselves within the contexts of society. The highest achievement a reot can aspire to is making their own lives easier without being dependent on someone else. Relying on others is a double-edged sword in reot society; someone who is dependent must acquiesce to the demands of whoever is providing for them and seek to minimize the burdens they cause, as there is generally no social obligation to provide for someone else beyond very young children. Racial Traits (D&D 3.5e/Pathfinder) Overview Reots are a Medium race and have no penalties or bonuses associated with their size. Reot characters may choose either +2 Dexterity and -2 Constitution or +2 Intelligence and -2 Charisma to be applied to their starting statistics. The reots are naturally lithe and flexible in body, their fingers able to manipulate even the most sensitive of machinery with unparalleled finesse, but their small bodies are vulnerable to strong force and injury. Some reots prefer instead to pursue more academic applications of various disciplines, especially technology or alchemy, which tends to coincide with a conscious refusal to so much as acknowledge an innate potential for magic born with the individual. Escape Plan (Ex) Flavor Many reots have combined their natural affinity for ambush tactics and devious machinery. Either through a small device of a reot's making (perhaps their own) or through their own stealthy prowess, a reot always has a plan for escaping unfavorable situations and counterattacking on the reot's own terms. Mechanics As a move action once per day, a reot may disappear even in plain sight for 1d4+1 rounds or until the reot takes a direct hostile action against another creature, whichever comes first. While stationary, the reot receives a +40 circumstantial bonus to Stealth checks. This bonus is reduced to +20 while moving. Items the reot is already holding that do not extend past five feet disappear with the reot, but items picked up after using Escape Plan or items that extend beyond five feet of the reot do not disappear and remain visible. The effects of the reot's actions on the environment (such as opening a door) are visible and may potentially tip other creatures off to the reot's presence. Other creatures cannot disappear with the reot unless they are capable of hiding somewhere on the reot's person, such as a familiar stowing itself in a reot's bag. : Keywords: Active, move action, daily, extraordinary ability Feline Feet (Natural Ability) Flavor The shifting sands of Beyne often send the unprepared scurrying back to civilization, but the reots are equally adept at maneuvering around the unbalanced ground of the dunes and the craggy mountains bordering the desert. No matter how far they fall, they always shrug it off and continue on their way as if nothing happened. Mechanics Reots have a +2 racial bonus to Acrobatics. : Keywords: Passive, natural ability Machinist (Natural Ability) Flavor Pioneers of technology for generations, reots are raised among bolts and wrenches as their kin. Even young reots often learn how to take apart or build simple machines before they're fully grown. Some may focus on dismantling tech while others seek to understand it, but virtually every reot finds their hands naturally suited to a machinist's toolkit. Mechanics Reots have +2 racial bonus to Knowledge (Engineering) or a +2 racial bonus to Disable Device. : Keywords: Passive, natural ability Reot Senses (Natural Ability) Flavor The reot race's eyes naturally adapt to however much or little light they have around them. From moonless desert nights to poorly lit laboratories, reots can see in any situation so long as their vision is not obscured. Mechanics Reots have both Low Light Vision and Dark Vision up to 60ft in either condition and do not take sight-based penalties in such conditions, so long as the subject is in their range. These senses do not allow the reot to see things they normally would not be able to see, such as invisible creatures or illusions. : Keywords: Passive, natural ability, senses Category:Ealdremen Races